


of cuddles and nightmares

by willannanan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith Has Nightmares (Voltron), M/M, Nightmares, Soft Keith/Lance (Voltron), keith and lance aren't actually together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:28:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29160438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/willannanan/pseuds/willannanan
Summary: In which Keith has a nightmare and Lance comforts him
Relationships: Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 52





	of cuddles and nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> the klance brainrot is really kicking in lately, oh dear

Keith shot up in bed, gasps tearing their way past his throat as he shook, glancing around the room through the haze of panic and sleep. The bedsheets are tangled in a pile at the foot of his bed, no doubt from his thrashing, but other than that his room looks exactly like it always does. It would be comforting but he's distracted by the air stuttering in and out of his lungs uncomfortably. He presses a shaky hand against his mouth as his stomach flips over and over and over with nausea, his heart pounding in his throat and making it hard to swallow.

Fuck.

He glances at his bedside table and sees his phone. Right. He hesitates and swallows past the lump in his throat before reaching out, turning it on with shaky hands. The bright light makes him wince, eyes stinging in the now lit-up room, and squints at the time. 3:04. Huh. A trembling hand runs through his hair before he unlocks his phone and scrolls through his messages for something to do. Something to focus on other than the shaking in his hands and the frantic pounding in his chest. He blinks at the little flashing symbol by Lance's name. What is he doing up?

Keith makes a split-second decision, one he knows he'll probably regret later, but right now he just needs _something_ other than the fear in his stomach.

 **Mullet:** Hey…  
**Sharpshooter:** Keith! you okay? you're never up this late

Keith scoffs, a wavey smile on his face.

 **Mullet:** I woke up. Nightmare.

He waits for what he swears is the longest minute of his life for Lance's response, trying to ignore the pounding against his ribcage and the way his chest aches.

 **Sharpshooter:** oh. was it bad?  
**Mullet:** Well, it woke me up  
**Sharpshooter:** good point. are you okay now?

Keith stares at the message, the screen wobbling from the shaking in his hands.

 **Mullet:** No

He blinks. Why did he do that?

 **Mullet:** Yes  
**Mullet:** It's fine  
**Sharpshooter:** uh huh. we'll see  
**Mullet:** What?

The icon by Lance's name disappears and Keith frowns at his phone before putting it down. He pulls his knees to his chest and closes his eyes to focus on his breathing, shaky exhales pushing their way past his lips. It all felt so real, the nightmare. God, he can feel the air burning in his lungs. Solid and stuck and he can't breathe, just fucking breathe goddamnit. Soft wheezes are all he can manage. It's stupid, he should be able to just breathe, why the fuck can't he breathe? Stupid, stupid, stupid-

He groans, covering his face.

_BZZT._

His phone vibrates, startling him out of his panic momentarily. He checks it, fingers missing the buttons as he trembles, taking several tries before he manages to unlock it.

 **Sharpshooter:** let me in, it's cold!

What? Keith frowns again and sighs, pulling himself out of bed. He checks his window, a habit he picked up from before he lived with Shiro, and sees familiar brown hair by his front door. Oh no.

Keith rubs his forehead and heads to the front door, flipping on lights as he does so. He's sure he wouldn't walk into anything in the dark but the last thing he needs right now is Lance smacking into a door or a table. Once he has the door unlocked, Keith swings it inwards to see Lance huddled under a coat in the cold, hands tucked under his arms for warmth. He at least has the decency to look a little sheepish when he smiles at the dark-haired boy. Keith sighs but steps to the side and lets Lance in, locking the door behind him. He turns back to look at Lance, crossing his arms when he notices the boy staring at his shaking hands.

"What are you doing here?"

Lance's eyebrows furrow. "You said you weren't okay, so I came to check on you and keep you company! Shiro's out of town right?"

"Yeah, but…" Now it's Keith's turn to look confused. Why would Lance do that for him? They typically don't get along.

Lance let's out a breath and heads further into the house, Keith following him, before dramatically falling across Keith's bed. Keith snorts and shakes his head, of course Lance had no problem with making himself at home. He pushes himself up though when Keith joins him. The darker-haired boy just stares at his bedroom wall for a bit, seemingly lost in thought.

"So…" Lance breaks the silence that fell across the room. "What did you dream about?"

Keith frowns, clenching his hands into fists. "It… I was…" He lets out a shaky breath.

"You don't have to tell me, Keith, it's okay."

"No, I want to. I was in space but I didn't have a spacesuit or anything and I was choking." He picked at the skin around his fingernails absentmindedly. "It was cold, I could feel my lungs freezing and I couldn't breathe and…" He sighed. "When I woke up I still couldn't breathe."

Keith doesn't say anymore, letting the silence hang in the air. He turns to look out the window, staring at the moon. He feels a shiver run down his spine and turns away again.

He hears a dramatic huff from behind him and looks to Lance, who has his arms open. Keith just stares at him. What is he up to now? Apparently that's the wrong thing to do though because Lance grabs his arm and tugs him forward so that Keith is lying on top of the taller boy's chest, trapped by two long arms hugging him.

"Uh… Lance? What are you doing?"

"Comforting you. Have you never been given a hug before?"

Keith rolls his eyes and tries to wriggle out of the hug for a moment but gives up, becoming a dead weight on top of Lance. He flinches a little when Lance's hand starts running through his hair but soon relaxes again, shutting his eyes. His heart flutters in his chest and he squashes the feeling because there is absolutely no way he's going to deal with that now. Nope.

They fall asleep like that, Keith on top of Lance. He would never, _ever,_ admit it but it's the best sleep he's had in a while. He can already imagine the stupid – adorable, some traitorous part of his mind whispers – look Lance would have on his face if he found out.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed! sorry it ends a little weird, i didn't really know where i was going with it :) remember to drink some water and take care of yourself <3


End file.
